Our Storey

Our Story

We’re James and Craig — lifelong friends who first met as kids on the UK dry slope ski racing circuit. From those early days, skiing became the thread that’s run through our lives. We trained together in Tignes, competed on the England and British development teams, and raced at a national level before both going on to qualify as ski instructors.

Our passion for skiing took us down similar paths. We became BASI trainers, helping future instructors earn their qualifications. We worked in France with leading ski schools, delivered race training, and even opened for the Eurotest — something we did a decade. Together, we built our own ski schools in Morzine, Courchevel, and Tignes, and later expanded into Switzerland with schools in Zermatt, Verbier, and St Moritz.

Then Covid hit. Like many, we found ourselves back in the UK doing very different jobs — even delivering for Argos. But out of that pause came a new idea. We realised that while lessons on the slopes are powerful, most skiers spend far more time away from their instructors than with them. We asked ourselves: how can we keep skiers learning, motivated, and supported between sessions?

That’s where this project was born. Sport Autonomy is all about developing a way of bridging the gap — combining smart technology with the human side of coaching, so skiers can keep progressing with confidence, even when they’re off the snow.